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• Much Ado About Nothing
  Much Ado About Nothing

  noun

  a comedy (1598?) by Shakespeare.
• much ado about nothing
  much ado about nothing

  A big fuss over a trifle, as in Jerry had everyone running around looking for his gloves—much ado about nothing. Although this expression is best remembered as the title of Shakespeare's comedy, the phrase much ado was already being used for a big commotion or trouble in the early 1500s.

Much Ado About Nothing

American  

noun

1. a comedy (1598?) by Shakespeare.

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much ado about nothing Idioms  

1. A big fuss over a trifle, as in Jerry had everyone running around looking for his gloves—much ado about nothing. Although this expression is best remembered as the title of Shakespeare's comedy, the phrase much ado was already being used for a big commotion or trouble in the early 1500s.

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Example Sentences

His next project was Much Ado About Nothing, a masterpiece, set in an Italian villa with his then partner Emma Thomson playing Beatrice joyfully to his Benedick.

From BBC • Sep. 11, 2025

He also got to see the 2019 Shakespeare in the Park production of "Much Ado About Nothing" — those tickets are free, but handed out either by lottery or to folks who wait in line.

From Salon • Apr. 30, 2024

The pair’s spiky relationship has earned comparisons to Benedick and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing.

From The Guardian • Oct. 2, 2018

What compels our amorous complicity is the genre of romantic comedy, which even at several levels below "Much Ado About Nothing" and "As You Like It" manages to win our favor.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 22, 2018

Which, if you haven’t read Much Ado About Nothing lately, was Mrs. Baker’s way of saying that a whole lot could happen.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt